


The Benefit of Doubt

by Queen_Ghidorah



Category: Sly Cooper (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Oneshot, carmelita fox - Freeform, my first fic!, sly cooper - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 16:47:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15890055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_Ghidorah/pseuds/Queen_Ghidorah
Summary: Carmelita Fox had doubts. Doubts that, if expressed, could change her view on the Cooper case forever.





	The Benefit of Doubt

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings friends! And welcome to my first fanfiction!
> 
> I have loved the Sly Cooper series for as long as I can remember, and after recently rediscovering the games, I decided to write a fic! I see that there isn't enough slyfox content on the site, so I decided to get off my ass and write some!
> 
> This took about 3 days for me to write, and since I'm a novice writer, I appreciate any kind of constructive criticism you can give me! I value anything that can help me improve, so don't hold back! 
> 
> Also I'm fairly new to this site, so my profile may seem a little barren. But be sure to check out my tumblr (link is on my profile)!
> 
> Anyways without further ado, hope you enjoy!

Carmelita Fox had doubts.

Whether it was the aftermath of a heist and the Cooper gang had made off with their haul and left behind their calling card, as well as several tied-up known criminals; she had doubts.

Whether it was after robbing a museum with a brand new exhibition from questionable sources, and a week later hearing that said exhibition had been returned to its rightful owner; she had doubts.

Whether it was after Cooper himself had taken back the pages from his family heirloom from the Fiendish Five and left their dastardly operations in shambles; she had doubts.

The vixen sighed, she was in her office finishing up paperwork regarding the Cooper gang’s most recent caper: robbing the mansion of a well-known but suspicious entrepreneur, that happened to filled with stolen antiquities from the black market.

The master thief and his crew had only taken one thing from the mansion however, and that was a jewel-encrusted golden chalice from the 12th century, specifically from Jerusalem during the Crusades.

Nevertheless, the damage had been done. And when Carmelita and her army of officers had rushed to the scene of the crime, they were met with a mountain of evidence incriminating the wealthy otter. Enough to make sure that he would be sitting behind bars for a long, long time.

Another open and shut case, another mess to clean up, and another victory for Cooper.

Well…almost.

Unfortunately for the raccoon, he had been a bit sloppy this time. In his rush to escape the mansion, he had dropped his binocular-communication device (Carmelita was pretty sure that Cooper’s turtle friend had dubbed it “the binocucom”) which now sat on her desk, a small trophy from her endless hunt for the ring-tailed thief.

However, thanks to Cooper being one step ahead of her, the memory had been completely wiped and any information regarding the gang’s location was long gone. Even Interpol’s I.T. department had spent over 3 hours poring over the “binocucom,” with their labors wasted and their technicians completely baffled at the fact that just ONE turtle was responsible.

_Typical._

She picked up the device and weighed it in her palm. It was a little dinged up after being dropped but otherwise in near-perfect condition. There was wear on both sides of the blue mechanism, probably due to Cooper taking it out repeatedly of his thigh-pouch. Carmelita had never seen anything like it, it was much more advanced compared to the communicators that Interpol had distributed to all their top agents. If only Cooper and his friends weren’t on the other side of the tracks…

_They could do so much good._

_They HAVE done so much good,_ a small part of her mind responded.

And there it was. The bitter truth. Staring her in the face, her doubts resurfacing once more.

Sly Cooper and his gang were thieves. They were responsible for a countless number of international crimes. Yet in the end, these crimes always targeted other criminals.

**Master** criminals.

Criminals so notorious, so heartless and so evil that even the thought of them possibly receiving parole made shivers run down Carmelita’s spine.

But Cooper was the one who had sabotaged their crime rings. Cooper was the one who was responsible for their arrests. It was always Cooper who would put the final nail in the coffin with the drop of a calling card.

But…why?

Despite everything, Cooper was still a criminal himself. Stealing was wrong, plain and simple.

And yet…

_NO_. She argued with herself. _Two wrongs don’t make a right. There is absolutely no excuse for-_

A loud knocking on her door broke her train of thought, as Carmelita suddenly jumped from her seat.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Chief Barkley entered the small office, a cigar in his mouth and his eyebrows furrowed.

“Are you finished with that paperwork regarding the Ottervy case?”

“Yes sir,” she handed him the papers. “The calling card left at the scene and the MO confirms that this was Cooper’s doing.”

The badger took out his cigar and exhaled, smoke pouring from his mouth. “And Mr. Ottervy?”

“Fingerprints and otter DNA were found all over the evidence. Security camera footage from the mansion was also found at the scene, showing him meeting with several known black market dealers. His lawyers won’t stand a chance.”

Barkley replaced the cigar in his mouth. “But Cooper still got away.”

Carmelita bowed her head. “Unfortunately so.”

The badger then placed both hands on her desk. “Chin up Inspector, you may have lost the battle but the war is far from over. Although I am disappointed that Cooper got away _again_ , you did manage to uncover another black market crime ring, one of the biggest in years.”

“Thanks Chief. I appreciate it. What do we tell the press?”

“Might as well tell them everything, lord knows they’ll find out eventually.” He got up and started walking towards the door. “And go home Fox, it’s already one in the morning.”

Carmelita stood up, “I will Chief, have a good night.”

He opened the office door and turned around, pointing an accusing finger. “And don’t even think about sleeping in the office again! You’ll give the janitors a heart attack.” And Barkley walked out, slamming the door behind him.

Left alone in her office, the vixen gathered her things, taking one last look at the binocucom.

She shrugged, and then shoved it into her back pocket.

_Might as well take it as a souvenir._

 

* * *

 

 

 

When Carmelita unlocked and opened the door to her apartment, the first thing she noticed was a slight draft ruffling her fur.

She froze, her police instincts on high alert.

_Someone had opened the window._

Carmelita always left her apartment windows promptly shut and locked before she went to work in the morning. In fact, she had recently purchased some expensive locks (which now she realized was money wasted) after a _certain master thief_ had broken in last Christmas and left her a holiday present, that she had immediately discarded.

Slowly but quietly, Carmelita dropped her things to the floor and pulled out her shock pistol from its holster. She hugged the wall, quickly scanning her apartment hall before deducting that it was clear of hostiles.

“-dammit. Where is it? I know she has it somewhere.”

The Inspector’s ears perked up. _The intruder was still in her apartment._

And, to make matters worse, she recognized that voice from anywhere.

_Cooper._

No. This was an opportunity. Why was she suddenly tense? This was Sly Cooper: her prime target for the past umpteen years!

This was it. She finally had him.

Wait. What if this was a trap? Cooper wouldn’t just wander into her apartment without precaution. In fact, why was he here in the first place?

She sidled along the apartment wall, slowly and agonizingly creeping towards the source of his voice.

“He’s gonna kill me for losing it.”

Something in Carmelita’s mind clicked.

_He was looking for his binocucom._

She peaked out from the hallway and crept through the living room. By following Cooper’s voice, she guessed that he was in her bedroom, where the door was slightly cracked open.

The fox risked a look into her bedroom, and there he was. The raccoon currently sifting through her dresser, taking out bits of clothing to see if anything was hidden underneath in her drawers.

Anger silently bubbled up in her chest. How dare he look through her clothes?! Then again, he was a wanted thief presently breaking and entering her apartment, and discretion would probably be the least of his worries once Carmelita was done with him.

Cooper then placed the garments back into the drawers that they had come from and walked to the closet. He opened her closet doors and turned on the light inside, bending down to check the insides for his missing device.

_He’s getting careless,_ Carmelita thought. He hadn’t even bothered to check the door to see if she had arrived home yet.

The Inspector weighed her options. She had Cooper cornered, in her own apartment of all places, but trapped.

Wait, if she blew her position right now, it wouldn’t take much for the raccoon to bolt towards the window, open it and leap out. She estimated it would take him about six seconds to do so.

She could shoot him, but he’d hear the gun go off and instantly duck, then make a break for the window. That and it would completely destroy her closet and her landlord would make her pay for the damages.

She could also sneak up behind him and take him down, but given how good his reflexes were, he would hear her footsteps within a meter or two away.

Her only option was to block the windows.

Carmelita slowly closed the door to her bedroom and locked it, then crept her way towards the bedroom windows. Cooper still hadn’t noticed anything amiss, his head lost in her closet, futilely searching for his binocucom.

_This was it_.

Years of hard work finally about to pay off. She would block the windows and if Cooper tried to run for the bedroom door she’d zap him. He would crumple, and she would cuff him, and finally Sly Cooper would go to jail for good.

No more embarrassments, no more lectures from the Chief, no more officers laughing behind her back.

No more of Cooper’s childish demeanor, no more of Cooper’s little games, no more of Cooper’s flirting…

_No more of Cooper._

_But…_

_No more Cooper meant…_

_Oh god, not **now**._

She faltered. The sudden realization hitting her like a truck.

_No more Cooper meant no more of his crimes._

_Crimes against other crime._

**_Bad_ ** _crime._

She would be back at square one. Cooper would no longer indirectly aid her in her investigations. Cooper would no longer leave her criminals to arrest. Cooper would no longer help the law by breaking it.

Could she afford that?

_YES,_ her mind screamed. She wasn’t dependent on the raccoon to save the day. She had put away dozens of other dangerous criminals and dismantled a good chunk of crime rings before he had come into the picture.

But…

She had to admit, Cooper had made her job a lot easier. Arrests that would’ve taken months to years of planning would happen in one night because of him. He-

_NO. You are not going to sympathize with the thief. You are going to end this, hear and now._

Carmelita straightened, she’d made up her mind. She then pointed her shock pistol at him.

“Alright Ringtail, hands up” she barked.

The raccoon suddenly froze.

“Get your head out of my closet and stand up, slowly.”

For once in his life, Cooper was actually _obeying_. He slowly backed out of her closet and put his hands up, then turned around to face her.

The first thing Carmelita noticed was that his usually calm and cool attitude when being approached by the law was absent. He had beads of sweat dripping down his forehead, his breathing quickened, and his eyes held an emotion that Carmelita had never seen before:

Panic.

Panic meant that this wasn’t a trap. Cooper wasn’t faking this time, he had actually broken into her apartment without a plan. And if he didn’t have a plan that meant his buddies weren’t there to save his hide.

The second thing that Carmelita noticed that his cane was gone.

_That’s weird,_ she thought. _He always carries his cane with him._ And after tiptoeing her away across her apartment she concluded that it wasn’t in another room. He hadn’t brought it at all?

“Where’s your cane?”

“I...” he swallowed. “I didn’t bring it.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t think I’d need it,” he responded. The panic in his eyes was slowly shrinking, his usual demeanor steadily returning to him. “I’m only here because-“

“I know why you’re here,” she cut him off. The fox then took out the binocucom from her back pocket. “Looking for this?”

Cooper suddenly smiled, he knew something she didn’t. “Ah, so do you have it. I must thank you Inspector for keeping it safe for me. Now would you kindly return it to me? Pretty please?”

Carmelita scoffed, “what makes you think that I would give this back to you?”

“Because you have something that I want, and I have something that you want.”

The raccoon reached into his thigh pouch, but Carmelita cocked her pistol.

“Now, now” he assured. “I’m unarmed see? I just want to get something for you”

The vixen huffed, “take it out, but _slowly_.”

“Anything for you, Ms. Fox”

“Oh for god’s sake, _please_ cut the flirting this time Ringtail.”

He chuckled, then opened his pouch and took out…

_Oh crap._

It was the golden chalice that Cooper had stolen earlier that night. If she shot him while he was holding it, the chalice would be completely destroyed. A priceless relic from history: gone.

And wouldn’t _that_ be a bitch and a half to explain to her boss.

_Dammit, he has leverage. He **knew** I had his binocucom! So he brought a bargaining chip._

“I don’t understand,” she began. “You’re willing to trade an invaluable piece of history for, for this?” She held up the device.

“Well,” he said. “See Bentley is very upset at me for losing it. He was all like, ‘Do you have any idea how hard I worked to make those?! Now I have to go and remotely delete _everything_ on it!’ So I figured to save him the time and resources I snuck out and broke into your home to try and get it back.”

“And why, pray tell, didn’t you check my office at HQ instead?”

Cooper laughed. “And try to sneak into a building literally crawling with cops? I may love a challenge but I’m not stupid.”

“You’ve done it before,” Carmelita retorted.

“We planned that,” he responded. “As you can see my gang isn’t here to save me from you again. Although I must admit I wouldn’t have it any other away, is that a new shade of lipstick? It does look rather vivacious-“

“What did I say about the flirting?”

He sighed and put a hand on his chest. “Is it really flirting if it’s true?”

“ENOUGH. Don’t change the subject. If your little device-“

“Binocucom”

“- ** _Binocucom_** is that irreplaceable, you should’ve thought of that before you left it at the scene of the crime.”

Cooper blinked. “So you’re not going to give it back?”

“Correct.”

“Then I guess I won’t give you the chalice. And I know you won’t shoot me if I’m holding it, it’ll get fried. Wouldn’t that be such a shame, Inspector?”

The vixen sighed. “So it appears we’ve reached a stalemate.”

“It appears so, but I must confess that spending any time with you-“

“Don’t.”

He laughed. “Alright, alright. So I guess we just stand here until one of us caves.”

_God_ he was so smug. But he was right: if neither of them gave up each other’s hostage then they would be sitting in her room until the sky fell down.

But was it worth it?

There were literally hundreds of other artifacts salvaged from the Crusades. Was she really putting the biggest arrest of the century on the line, for a goddamn piece of gold?

She could shoot him, right now. And it wouldn’t matter, because Sly Cooper would finally be captured.

Suddenly, she had an idea. If this was really going to be the night she finally caught Sly Cooper, he could answer any questions that she had before being carted off to a holding cell.

She could finally get some answers.

After five minutes of radio silence between the two of them (with Cooper periodically wiggling his eyebrows and winking) Carmelita finally spoke.

“To be honest I really don’t care about the chalice. If you would just come quietly this would be so much easier than me resorting to violence.”

He smiled. “But why haven’t you shot me already if the chalice means nothing to you?”

“Because I have some questions.”

The thief cocked his head. “Questions? About me? Why Inspector I didn’t know how much you cared.”

The vixen rolled her eyes. “Don’t get cocky. I just want to know some things before you finally get what you deserve raccoon.”

She pulled up a chair from her desk by the bedroom windows and sat down on it backwards. One hand trained on her pistol and the other still clutching the binocucom.

“If you’re a criminal, then why bother stealing from other criminals?”

Cooper blinked, and then he laughed. He laughed so hard that he doubled over and small tears started to form in the corners of his eyes.

Carmelita’s fur bristled. “What the hell’s so goddamn funny Ringtail?!”

He let out a sigh and straightened. “You honestly haven’t figured it out by now? I thought you were a detective? Surely you-“

“Figured out what? That you’re a childish ass that loves to make scene in order to boost his overinflated ego?”

He sucked air through his teeth. “Wow ‘Lita that’s actually kind of harsh…”

“That’s **Inspector** to you,” she growled.

Cooper shrugged and then sat on her bed, his hand still clutching the jeweled chalice.

“First things first, I’m not just a thief. I’m a _master_ thief who comes from a family of master thieves, there’s a difference.”

Carmelita scoffed, “like what?”

“Well, regular thieves just steal from whoever and don’t really care about honor. Master thieves, however, only steal from _master criminals_. I mean, there’s really no fun stealing from the common person. But stealing from, let’s say, a crooked businessman who happened to have a thing for stolen artifacts from the black market? That’s more my speed.”

“So that’s it? You steal from high profile criminals because you think it’s _honorable_? There is no honor among thieves Cooper.”

He frowned, his tail twitching with annoyance. “It’s the Cooper Code,” he replied coolly. “A _family_ tradition passed on for generations. I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“Then help me understand.”

The raccoon leaned forward, his eyes shining earnestly. “Carmelita,” he said in a tone so sincere that she caught her breath. “If I hadn’t come earlier tonight and stolen this chalice from the otter’s mansion, would you have discovered that he was in a black market crime ring at all?”

She blinked, “Of course we would have. We would have discovered it _legally_.”

“When?”

The fox opened her mouth. Then closed it. She looked away, eyes deep in thought.

“Legal does not always mean right,” Cooper continued. “There have been countless times in history where slavery, torture, and even genocide have been legal. The law was something created by us in order to have a structured society. But each society has different laws, and each law has different loopholes. Sometimes severe loopholes.”

Carmelita sneered. “You think you’re above the law?”

The thief rose. “No, I don’t. I just believe that the law doesn’t bring justice when it’s needed.”

Carmelita suddenly shot up and dropped her pistol, shaking with rage, and marched over to the raccoon.

“And what gives you the right,” she screamed. “What gives you the right to decide that the law doesn’t bring justice?? What makes you, Sly Cooper, think that you don’t have to abide it?!”

His eyes narrowed, “So where was the justice when my parents were murdered?”

The vixen tensed. Her eyes widened and she felt her stomach drop to her boots. She stammered, but Sly spoke.

“When my parents were killed by the Fiendish Five, the investigators didn’t really care for the murder of a retired criminal and his wife. They never tracked down the Five, because they had all fled the country by that point. So they let the case go cold.” Cooper looked away, his eyes filling with tears as he spoke. “I made a promise to myself that I would find the people who took away my family and make sure that the law would finally catch up to them. And it did.”

He turned to look at Carmelita. “Thanks to you and your officers, the Fiendish Five now sit in prison to atone for their crimes. But not for the crimes of my mother and father’s murder.”

“Do you understand,” he asked. “Do you understand why I don’t abide the law? Because I can bring justice by simply breaking it.”

The vixen was at a loss for words. He had a point, and that terrified her. The fact that the legal system wasn’t perfect. The fact that she had witnessed these imperfections, from lawyers paying off witnesses to crooked cops. She was always so black and white, and when Cooper suddenly jumped into her life her black and white views would periodically blur into a whole new shade of gray.

“If you actually care about justice,” she said, “then why not be on my side?”

“But I am on your side.” He took a step towards her, their faces inches apart. “I have always been on your side.”

Carmelita shook her head. “You know what I mean.”

Sly came closer, his voicing dropping to a whisper. “Sometimes I wonder about it. Sometimes I wonder what would’ve happened if circumstances were different between us. We could do a lot of good together…”

She felt her heartbeat suddenly pick up speed at his words. “I can put in a good word with the Chief. If you served time you could be out within three to five years…”

He shook his head, “you know I can’t do that.”

“But I’d wait,” she insisted. “I’d wait for you and I’d come to see you every day. And then when you’d get released you could join me.”

He cocked his head, “could I?”

“Yes,” she breathed. “I swear on my life.”

The two of them were just centimeters away from each other now. Their tails both lashing restlessly, their hearts pounding at impossible speeds, they could feel each other’s body heat radiating like white-hot flares.

“Stay with me.”

The raccoon looked at her like she was a fallen angel, and then he closed the distance between them, with his lips meeting hers.

The kiss was like fire: raging, burning, consuming. Carmelita’s hands slowly rose, one hand still clutching the binocucom and the other resting on the back of his neck. Cooper slowly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer, deepening the kiss by tilting his head.

Carmelita had forgotten how long they stood there, lips locked and bodies pressed together. She felt Sly open her hand and place the chalice in her palm, while she opened her hand and let Sly take back his binocucom.

Reluctantly, Carmelita broke the kiss and looked at him longingly. She then pulled out her handcuffs from the side of her belt.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“So am I,” he responded.

“Wait, why-“  
But before she could finish, Cooper stamped his foot on the ground. Abruptly, a giant cloud of smoke appeared, filling the room, blinding and choking the vixen.

“Sly,” she called out. Before a mad fit of coughing overtook her.

When the smoke finally dissipated, the thief had vanished. She turned around and saw her bedroom windows open, a calling card with a rose pinned to it resting on the windowsill.

She rushed to the open windows, but it was too late: he was already long gone.

At first, Carmelita thought she should be angry. Sly Cooper once again had escaped her clutches. But to her surprise, she only felt…whole?

Sly Cooper was a thief, yes, but he had honor. Something that most, if not all, outlaws lacked. It wasn’t just a game to him, he had committed his crimes out of justice and integrity, not just for the thrill.

They were equals, she and him. Just like two sides of the same coin.

He had done all of his heists to help.

To help _her_. Because he cared.

And for once in her life, Carmelita could see the benefit of doubt.

 


End file.
